As I start to write,
I’m not sure whose perspective to take. Do I take the perspective of the self-assured teen or the really proud dad; or the frustrated brothers who could not live up to him? Let me just take all three. Joseph was the beloved son born to Rachel and Jacob (Israel). He came to Rachel after many years of her being barren and not being able to have children. Joseph was the strength needed to encourage Jacob to stop being Laban’s slave and return to Canaan - the land where he was born - where his mother and father still lived. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son - but he was the only son born to the woman that he truly loved while living in Paddam Aram. You see - Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, Rachel’s older sister - and then he had to serve Laban 7 years more. And then Jacob was encouraged to take both Zilpah and Bilhah as wives - they were Leah and Rachel’s slaves who had children with him. Anyway, Joseph was raised with tons of love. He knew the position and power that he had. He had the utmost adoration of his dad. The scripture says, “Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him.” This must be the multicolored coat - that the entertainment industry likes to focus on. Isn’t it typical for us to focus on what can be seen, instead of looking at the heart within - Wait...I guess I am wrong - Jacob made the coat for Joseph because he truly loved him. So what we see is not always bad. His brothers must have completely hated Joseph - the son who got all the attention. How would you have felt if you were one of them? The scripture says, “When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.” I can only imagine they probably got tired of Joseph telling on them. He must have been the little brother that was completely annoying! The scripture says, “Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.” Genesis 37:2 Now this particular scripture does not mention the six sons of Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun). It only references the two handmaidens’ sons (Asher, Gad, Dan and Naphtali). Now listen to this - and tell me how you might have felt if you had been a sibling to him. The scripture says, “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” Can you imagine having the gall to tell this dream to the siblings that you love? Joseph’s brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. The scripture does not say how Joseph responded. Did he say “yes” or did he say “no”? Then Joseph had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” Doesn’t it sound like Joseph is totally conceited? Doesn’t he sound like a narcissist? It seem like he wants the world to bow down to him? I’m sure his family did not think he was a prophet. I’m sure they did not consider he was given a vision to see as God did. In fact, even his father, Jacob, rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” “His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” Genesis 37:1-11 Two things - First, Jacob responds “will your mother and I bow down” - which tells me that Rachel was still alive, which means that Jacob’s youngest son, Benjamin, had not been born. So the 11 stars was a foreshadowing of what was to come - because other than Joseph, only ten sons had been born. The last son was yet to come. Second, the scripture says, “his father kept the matter in mind.” That means that Jacob understood that the dream could have come from God. During the course of his lifetime, Jacob had many visions and dreams of his own. If there was anyone who could consider that Joseph’s dreams were true - it would have been Jacob the man renamed Israel. The man who wrestled with man and God - the son who once was extremely proud who became humbled before the Lord.
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